The impressive run that Kantara Chapter 1 has had at the box office in its opening week is impressive not just for any Indian film, but worldwide. The film has surpassed $50 million in collections worldwide, largely due to a strong domestic run. This has enabled it to become the highest-grossing film in the world in its opening week, beating some big names from Hollywood.

Kantara Chapter 1 is the highest-grossing film in the world

Rishab Shetty‘s Kantara Chapter 1 has earned ₹379 crore gross ($42 million) in India in its first seven days. Trade insiders say that by the end of its first extended week on Thursday, it is likely to increase to $45 million (over ₹400 crore). Add to this the estimated $8 million collections from overseas, and Kantara Chapter 1’s week 1 collection will stand at around $53 million. This has enabled it to surpass Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which collected $50 million over the weekend. But since the film was just a weekend-only release coinciding with the release of Taylor’s new album, it did not add to it after Monday. Kantara Chapter 1 has also left behind Paul Thomas Anderson’s Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer One Battle After Another, which collected an estimated $40 million worldwide in its second week. The re-released Avatar: The Way of Water is also lagging behind with estimated earnings of under $10 million in the same time period.

Kantara Chapter 1’s pan-India success

Originally made in Kannada, Kantara Chapter 1 is one of the rare Indian films to find success across languages. The Hindi version crossed ₹100 crore net domestically on Wednesday, while the Kannada version followed suit on Friday. The Telugu version has also fared well with over ₹60 crore in net collections so far, while both the Malayalam and Tamil dubs have also earned over ₹20 crore each.

All about Kantara Chapter 1

Written and directed by Rishab Shetty, Kantara Chapter 1 also stars Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah, and Jayaram in pivotal roles. A prequel to the 2022 sleeper hit, Kantara, this film is set a thousand years before the events of the first film. It has been praised by critics and audiences alike. A third film – Kantara Chapter 2 – has been announced.